'Laxin in Laos

Our first stop in Laos is beautiful Luang Prabang, a city considered a gem of French colonialism, although perhaps not the most accurate representation of Laos cities. Our first impulse in this UNESCO World Heritage site was to rent a bunch of bikes and explore the lazy town situated between two winding rivers, discovering to our delight many quaint restaurants and even a stand sporting what could only be decades fermented snake/scorpion/giant centipede whiskey, of which the kind man would offer you a shot for only 75 cents. “Good for power! Good for man!” he assures us as he makes uncouth hand gestures. How could we resist?

The main attraction in Luang Prabang (you can tell by the sheer number of Tuk Tuk drivers asking you if you want to go there) is the Khong Si waterfall, a tiered waterfall rising hundreds of feet into the air. For the lazy travellers, there is a great picnic area to relax and enjoy a sandwich in, while the more thrill-seeking can dive into the many idle pools off of various smaller waterfalls or rope swings suspended from trees. There are also hikes to the upper tiers of waterfalls, and for the slightly insane (I suppose most Free and Easy leaders, who I was hiking with at the time, fall under that category) you can ignore the worn out ‘DANGER DO NOT PASS’ signs and climb down 50 feet or so to a tropical playground that seems to have come right out of a movie! There are caves to explore behind waterfalls, natural vine swings to be swung from, and pools that afford some awesome diving, complete with shallow sitting areas overlooking drops hundreds of feet down!

Another hot spot in Luang Prabang are the renowned night markets, sprawling all the way down the main road from 6 pm until midnight every night. The variety of goods available, along with their special Laotian flair make this a must see (and for some, a must buy) for everyone! After the night market we hit up the hot after hours bar in town – the bowling alley. No joke, this place takes off at 11 (when all the bars in town wind down) and when you show up for a few more beers, you will find every foreigner in town hanging around the overwhelmed 5 lanes, waiting for a turn to bowl or just to grab another 600 mL Beerlao for about $2 (a complete rip-off by Laos standards). With bottles of ‘Lion King’ whiskey going at $3 (trust me, it’s not worth more than that), it sure is a party all night long!

But don’t get too carried away with nightly activities, because another must see is the morning alms giving ceremony. Picture a misty morning sunrise on quaint streets, with hundreds of orange and saffron clad monks moving along the road in a solemn line to accept rice and other offerings from the townspeople. For those of us who couldn’t make it out a 5 am to get a few photos, there are always postcards!

Mmmm...rice.

With our short stint in Luang Prabang at an end, we boarded the mini bus and started on the beautiful, mountainous drive to Vang Vieng, home of the legendary river tubing! Our paths finally crossed with Colin and Justin’s group, so the party could finally begin! The next day, 40 plus Canadians hit up the biggest river party in Southeast Asia dressed in the most ridiculous swimwear we could find, many of us decked out with Free and Easy logos spray painted in bizarre places all over our bodies. Far from floating down a lazy river with a beer in hand, the local bars have people all over the banks of the river ready to cast out floating rings or bamboo poles tied to strings, which they will use to pull you in to their bar once you grab on! With Beerlao coming in at about $1.50 and free Tiger whiskey shots all day long, it’s hard to say no! Most bars also offer some form of zip line, trapeze swing (often from trees or platforms 30 feet in the air), or giant water slide, with some more recent additions being a mud wrestling/tug-of-war pit and plentiful beach volleyball. Talk about entertainment!

The group before hitting the river in our wacky swimwear!

If you had a big start to the day and need to call it quits, there are opportunities to head home early and take a Tuk Tuk home from some of the bars along the river. However, my favorite way to sober up is to take the easy float home down the river, landing you a 10 minute walk from the guesthouse! One word of warning: the local kids may be ready to pull you in to the shore, but they are only looking for tips from tipsy tourists. If they seem eager to help you carry your tube, beware – if they return it, THEY get your 60,000 kip deposit back. Not a bad wage for a kid in Laos!

Linds and I having a muddy tug-of-war session. Which she won. But I had the bad side =P

Other than tubing, Vang Vieng is a backpacker driven town, with most restaurants offering 24 hour a day Friends, Simpsons, or Family Guy episodes – take your pick! There are also many opportunities for rock climbing, lagoon visiting, caving, river kayaking (where you can show up at the river party sober and watch all the insane stunts from a less intoxicated angle) and so on…you just have to drag yourself away from the party first!

Free and Easy Bloggin - Chillin in Chiang Mai

I started doing some blogging for Free and Easy, so I thought I would include those in here as well...enjoy!

All our bags are packed, we’re ready to go! The new group just flew into Bangkok from all directions: Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Canada, and the air is tingling with excitement for the trip through northern Thailand, Laos and Cambodia! Even the leaders are in for something new, this being the first of many LTC trips being run throughout 2009 and beyond. The trip starts out smoothly, but not without a bit of an adrenaline rush when a group member goes missing an hour before our train up to Chiang Mai! All is well when she turns up with 10 minutes to spare, beer in hand! Mai pen rai (Thai for “no worries”), let’s get going!

Chiang Mai - the rose of the north. A nickname that certainly holds true for this cultural metropolis. The first impressions I hear from group members are comparisons to unsavoury Bangkok (which I think is a little harsh, I kinda like the place!), but I must admit Chiang Mai is a breath of fresh air after the hectic, smoggy capital of Thailand. Surrounded by a crumbling stone wall used to keep out invading armies from ancient enemies, the Old Town is a charming maze of side streets and back alleys full of markets, restaurants, guesthouses and massage parlors to tend to a traveler’s every need.

The group at a waterfall somewhere around Chiang Mai.

Outside of the Old Town, Chiang Mai is a sprawling city which has a more laid-back feel than many big cities in Thailand. For an excellent view over the city, the group headed up to Doi Sutep, a famous temple up on the mountain of the same name. There we witnessed amazing Thai architecture and many Buddhist rituals, including several group members being blessed by real live orange-clad monks for safe travels. For the more adventurous in the group, a short half hour ride out of town brought us to a tiger kingdom (for all your tiger petting needs), a snake farm (if you can stand the wriggly things), beautiful botanic gardens and orchid farms, an extreme sports centre (complete with bungee jumping, zorbing, paintball, and more), and my personal favorite, the unforgettable elephant show! (Have you ever seen an elephant paint an elephant on canvas? It’s an experience you can’t miss!)

Ridiculously cool!

Another unmissable opportunity for which Chiang Mai is famous are the multi-day treks you can take out into the jungle north of the city to visit some of the many hill tribe villages and see how more rural villagers live. This was definitely the highlight of our trip up north, getting out of the city life and embracing life in the jungle to the fullest with elephant rides, authentic bamboo rafting, and even sharing a few Burmese cigars with the locals over shots of “happy water” (aka rice whiskey moonshine). I tell you, you gotta be careful with that stuff, or you might forget where your bungalow is and wake up in the village kitchen surrounded by tribesmen cooking their morning coffee! …Oops. I was told not to worry, because even though happy water comes with the saying “happy tonight, not happy tomorrow”, we were through with our hikes for the next day and we could relax and cruise down the river on our hand made bamboo rafts, made right in front of our eyes!

Elephant riding...duh.

A Thai tribeswoman preparing our meal.

Chad, a Free and Easy leader trying to fit in as a tribesman...or something.

Well, that was a bit of an overstatement, as we found out the next day when we boarded the rafts and all of the men were handed 12 foot bamboo poles, and told that not only would we be standing the whole way down the river, but we had to help pole and avoid rocks in the rapids along the way!! Understandably, I was a bit nervous, considering my sense of balance is pretty bad on dry land. But 15 minutes in, I felt like a natural, steering our raft at the instruction of our guide, who was pulling his own weight at the front of the raft. A few adrenaline filled hours later, we were sad to disembark our bamboo armada and hop back in the vans down to Chiang Mai. On to the next leg of our journey!